unusual+railways

SUBJECT AREA: Land transport, Railways and locomotives

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Marsh, a businessman whose interests successively included packing pork and dealing in corn, was inspired by a rack railway built in 1847 up the 1 in 16.5 Jefferson incline, Indiana, to design and build a line to the 6,293 ft (1,918 m) summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. The gradient averaged 1 in 4 and Marsh installed a rack made from wrought iron with rungs fastened between upright bearers that were deep enough for the teeth of a locomotive's driving pinion to engage with two rungs at a time; counter-pressure brakes controlled a locomotive's descent. The Mount Washington Cog Railway was the first mountain rack railway: it opened in 1869 and even now continues to operate with steam locomotives.

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See also: Riggenbach, Niklaus

SUBJECT AREA: Land transport, Ports and shipping, Railways and locomotives

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Stevens, a wealthy landowner with an estate at Hoboken on the Hudson River, had his attention drawn to the steamboat of John Fitch in 1786, and thenceforth devoted much of his time and fortune to developing steamboats and mechanical transport. He also had political influence and it was at his instance that Congress in 1790 passed an Act establishing the first patent laws in the USA. The following year Stevens was one of the first recipients of a US patent. This referred to multi-tubular boilers, of both watertube and firetube types, and antedated by many years the work of both Henry Booth and Marc Seguin on the latter.

A steamboat built in 1798 by John Stevens, Nicholas J.Roosevelt and Stevens's brother-in-law, Robert R.Livingston, in association was unsuccessful, nor was Stevens satisfied with a boat built in 1802 in which a simple rotary steam-en-gine was mounted on the same shaft as a screw propeller. However, although others had experimented earlier with screw propellers, when John Stevens had the Little Juliana built in 1804 he produced the first practical screw steamboat. Steam at 50 psi (3.5 kg/cm²) pressure was supplied by a watertube boiler to a single-cylinder engine which drove two contra-rotating shafts, upon each of which was mounted a screw propeller. This little boat, less than 25 ft (7.6 m) long, was taken backwards and forwards across the Hudson River by two of Stevens's sons, one of whom, R.L. Stevens, was to help his father with many subsequent experiments. The boat, however, was ahead of its time, and steamships were to be driven by paddle wheels until the late 1830s.

In 1807 John Stevens declined an invitation to join with Robert Fulton and Robert R.Living-ston in their development work, which culminated in successful operation of the PS Clermont that summer; in 1808, however, he launched his own paddle steamer, the Phoenix. But Fulton and Livingston had obtained an effective monopoly of steamer operation on the Hudson and, unable to reach agreement with them, Stevens sent Phoenix to Philadelphia to operate on the Delaware River. The intervening voyage over 150 miles (240 km) of open sea made Phoenix the first ocean-going steamer.

From about 1810 John Stevens turned his attention to the possibilities of railways. He was at first considered a visionary, but in 1815, at his instance, the New Jersey Assembly created a company to build a railway between the Delaware and Raritan Rivers. It was the first railway charter granted in the USA, although the line it authorized remained unbuilt. To demonstrate the feasibility of the steam locomotive, Stevens built an experimental locomotive in 1825, at the age of 76. With flangeless wheels, guide rollers and rack-and-pinion drive, it ran on a circular track at his Hoboken home; it was the first steam locomotive to be built in America.

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See also: Allen, Horatio; Cooper, Peter

SUBJECT AREA: Land transport, Railways and locomotives, Weapons and armour

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The Brennan family, including Louis, emigrated to Australia in 1861. He was an inventive genius from childhood, and while at Melbourne invented his torpedo. Within it were two drums, each with several miles of steel wire coiled upon it and mounted on one of two concentric propeller shafts. The propellers revolved in opposite directions. Wires were led out of the torpedo to winding drums on land, driven by high-speed steam engines: the faster the drums on shore were driven, the quicker the wires were withdrawn from the drums within the torpedo and the quicker the propellers turned. A steering device was operated by altering the speeds of the wires relative to one another. As finally developed, Brennan torpedoes were accurate over a range of 1 1/2 miles (2.4 km), in contrast to contemporary self-propelled torpedoes, which were unreliable at ranges over 400 yards (366 in).

Brennan moved to England in 1880 and sold the rights to his torpedo to the British Government for a total of £110,000, probably the highest payment ever made by it to an individual inventor. Brennan torpedoes became part of the defences of many vital naval ports, but never saw active service: improvement of other means of defence meant they were withdrawn in 1906. By then Brennan was deeply involved in the development of his monorail. The need for a simple and cheap form of railway had been apparent to him when in Australia and he considered it could be met by a ground-level monorail upon which vehicles would be balanced by gyroscopes. After overcoming many manufacturing difficulties, he demonstrated first a one-eighth scale version and then a full-size, electrically driven vehicle, which ran on its single rail throughout the summer of 1910 in London, carrying up to fifty passengers at a time. Development had been supported financially by, successively, the War Office, the India Office and the Government of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which had no rail access; despite all this, however, no further financial support, government or commercial, was forthcoming.

Brennan made many other inventions, worked on the early development of helicopters and in 1929 built a gyroscopically balanced, two-wheeled motor car which, however, never went into production.

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See also: Behr, Fritz Bernhard; Lartigue, Charles François Marie-Thérèse; Palmer, Henry Robinson( monorails); Whitehead, Robert( torpedoes).

X выкинул фокус - X played a trick

• ВЫКИДЫВАТЬ/ВЫКИНУТЬ ФОКУС <ФОКУСЫ, ФОРТЕЛЬ, ФОРТЕЛИ> coll

[VP; subj; human; variants with фокусы, фортели are usu. impfv; variants with фокус, фортель are usu. pfv]

=====

⇒ to do sth. unexpected, unusual, often absurd:

- X выкинул фокус≈ X played a trick;

- X pulled a stunt (a trick).

     ♦ Наконец кассу открывают... "Граждане, в общие и плацкартные вагоны билетов нет!" - кричит кассирша... "Не знают, как деньги выманить, - возмущается толстая... тётка. - Понаделали мягких вагонов - кому они нужны?.. Вот ещё раз, два такие фокусы выкинете, и ни один человек к вам не пойдёт" (Распутин 1). At last the ticket office opened.... "No second- or third-class tickets, citizens," shouted the cashier.... "Anything to get money out of us," blustered a fat woman...."Who wants their first-class carriages?...Play this trick once too often and you'll not have anybody using the railways" (1a).

• ВЫКИДЫВАТЬ/ВЫКИНУТЬ ФОКУС <ФОКУСЫ, ФОРТЕЛЬ, ФОРТЕЛИ> coll

[VP; subj; human; variants with фокусы, фортели are usu. impfv; variants with фокус, фортель are usu. pfv]

=====

⇒ to do sth. unexpected, unusual, often absurd:

- X выкинул фокус≈ X played a trick;

- X pulled a stunt (a trick).

     ♦ Наконец кассу открывают... "Граждане, в общие и плацкартные вагоны билетов нет!" - кричит кассирша... "Не знают, как деньги выманить, - возмущается толстая... тётка. - Понаделали мягких вагонов - кому они нужны?.. Вот ещё раз, два такие фокусы выкинете, и ни один человек к вам не пойдёт" (Распутин 1). At last the ticket office opened.... "No second- or third-class tickets, citizens," shouted the cashier.... "Anything to get money out of us," blustered a fat woman...."Who wants their first-class carriages?...Play this trick once too often and you'll not have anybody using the railways" (1a).

• ВЫКИДЫВАТЬ/ВЫКИНУТЬ ФОКУС <ФОКУСЫ, ФОРТЕЛЬ, ФОРТЕЛИ> coll

[VP; subj; human; variants with фокусы, фортели are usu. impfv; variants with фокус, фортель are usu. pfv]

=====

⇒ to do sth. unexpected, unusual, often absurd:

- X выкинул фокус≈ X played a trick;

- X pulled a stunt (a trick).

     ♦ Наконец кассу открывают... "Граждане, в общие и плацкартные вагоны билетов нет!" - кричит кассирша... "Не знают, как деньги выманить, - возмущается толстая... тётка. - Понаделали мягких вагонов - кому они нужны?.. Вот ещё раз, два такие фокусы выкинете, и ни один человек к вам не пойдёт" (Распутин 1). At last the ticket office opened.... "No second- or third-class tickets, citizens," shouted the cashier.... "Anything to get money out of us," blustered a fat woman...."Who wants their first-class carriages?...Play this trick once too often and you'll not have anybody using the railways" (1a).

• ВЫКИДЫВАТЬ/ВЫКИНУТЬ ФОКУС <ФОКУСЫ, ФОРТЕЛЬ, ФОРТЕЛИ> coll

[VP; subj; human; variants with фокусы, фортели are usu. impfv; variants with фокус, фортель are usu. pfv]

=====

⇒ to do sth. unexpected, unusual, often absurd:

- X выкинул фокус≈ X played a trick;

- X pulled a stunt (a trick).

     ♦ Наконец кассу открывают... "Граждане, в общие и плацкартные вагоны билетов нет!" - кричит кассирша... "Не знают, как деньги выманить, - возмущается толстая... тётка. - Понаделали мягких вагонов - кому они нужны?.. Вот ещё раз, два такие фокусы выкинете, и ни один человек к вам не пойдёт" (Распутин 1). At last the ticket office opened.... "No second- or third-class tickets, citizens," shouted the cashier.... "Anything to get money out of us," blustered a fat woman...."Who wants their first-class carriages?...Play this trick once too often and you'll not have anybody using the railways" (1a).

• ВЫКИДЫВАТЬ/ВЫКИНУТЬ ФОКУС <ФОКУСЫ, ФОРТЕЛЬ, ФОРТЕЛИ> coll

[VP; subj; human; variants with фокусы, фортели are usu. impfv; variants with фокус, фортель are usu. pfv]

=====

⇒ to do sth. unexpected, unusual, often absurd:

- X выкинул фокус≈ X played a trick;

- X pulled a stunt (a trick).

     ♦ Наконец кассу открывают... "Граждане, в общие и плацкартные вагоны билетов нет!" - кричит кассирша... "Не знают, как деньги выманить, - возмущается толстая... тётка. - Понаделали мягких вагонов - кому они нужны?.. Вот ещё раз, два такие фокусы выкинете, и ни один человек к вам не пойдёт" (Распутин 1). At last the ticket office opened.... "No second- or third-class tickets, citizens," shouted the cashier.... "Anything to get money out of us," blustered a fat woman...."Who wants their first-class carriages?...Play this trick once too often and you'll not have anybody using the railways" (1a).

• ВЫКИДЫВАТЬ/ВЫКИНУТЬ ФОКУС <ФОКУСЫ, ФОРТЕЛЬ, ФОРТЕЛИ> coll

[VP; subj; human; variants with фокусы, фортели are usu. impfv; variants with фокус, фортель are usu. pfv]

=====

⇒ to do sth. unexpected, unusual, often absurd:

- X выкинул фокус≈ X played a trick;

- X pulled a stunt (a trick).

     ♦ Наконец кассу открывают... "Граждане, в общие и плацкартные вагоны билетов нет!" - кричит кассирша... "Не знают, как деньги выманить, - возмущается толстая... тётка. - Понаделали мягких вагонов - кому они нужны?.. Вот ещё раз, два такие фокусы выкинете, и ни один человек к вам не пойдёт" (Распутин 1). At last the ticket office opened.... "No second- or third-class tickets, citizens," shouted the cashier.... "Anything to get money out of us," blustered a fat woman...."Who wants their first-class carriages?...Play this trick once too often and you'll not have anybody using the railways" (1a).

• ВЫКИДЫВАТЬ/ВЫКИНУТЬ ФОКУС <ФОКУСЫ, ФОРТЕЛЬ, ФОРТЕЛИ> coll

[VP; subj; human; variants with фокусы, фортели are usu. impfv; variants with фокус, фортель are usu. pfv]

=====

⇒ to do sth. unexpected, unusual, often absurd:

- X выкинул фокус≈ X played a trick;

- X pulled a stunt (a trick).

     ♦ Наконец кассу открывают... "Граждане, в общие и плацкартные вагоны билетов нет!" - кричит кассирша... "Не знают, как деньги выманить, - возмущается толстая... тётка. - Понаделали мягких вагонов - кому они нужны?.. Вот ещё раз, два такие фокусы выкинете, и ни один человек к вам не пойдёт" (Распутин 1). At last the ticket office opened.... "No second- or third-class tickets, citizens," shouted the cashier.... "Anything to get money out of us," blustered a fat woman...."Who wants their first-class carriages?...Play this trick once too often and you'll not have anybody using the railways" (1a).

• ВЫКИДЫВАТЬ/ВЫКИНУТЬ ФОКУС <ФОКУСЫ, ФОРТЕЛЬ, ФОРТЕЛИ> coll

[VP; subj; human; variants with фокусы, фортели are usu. impfv; variants with фокус, фортель are usu. pfv]

=====

⇒ to do sth. unexpected, unusual, often absurd:

- X выкинул фокус≈ X played a trick;

- X pulled a stunt (a trick).

     ♦ Наконец кассу открывают... "Граждане, в общие и плацкартные вагоны билетов нет!" - кричит кассирша... "Не знают, как деньги выманить, - возмущается толстая... тётка. - Понаделали мягких вагонов - кому они нужны?.. Вот ещё раз, два такие фокусы выкинете, и ни один человек к вам не пойдёт" (Распутин 1). At last the ticket office opened.... "No second- or third-class tickets, citizens," shouted the cashier.... "Anything to get money out of us," blustered a fat woman...."Who wants their first-class carriages?...Play this trick once too often and you'll not have anybody using the railways" (1a).

SUBJECT AREA: Electricity, Land transport, Railways and locomotives

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Davidson, son of an Aberdeen merchant, attended Marischal College, Aberdeen, between 1819 and 1822: his studies included mathematics, mechanics and chemistry. He subsequently joined his father's grocery business, which from time to time received enquiries for yeast: to meet these, Davidson began to manufacture yeast for sale and from that start built up a successful chemical manufacturing business with the emphasis on yeast and dyes. About 1837 he started to experiment first with electric batteries and then with motors. He invented a form of electromagnetic engine in which soft iron bars arranged on the periphery of a wooden cylinder, parallel to its axis, around which the cylinder could rotate, were attracted by fixed electromagnets. These were energized in turn by current controlled by a simple commutaring device. Electric current was produced by his batteries. His activities were brought to the attention of Michael Faraday and to the scientific world in general by a letter from Professor Forbes of King's College, Aberdeen. Davidson declined to patent his inventions, believing that all should be able freely to draw advantage from them, and in order to afford an opportunity for all interested parties to inspect them an exhibition was held at 36 Union Street, Aberdeen, in October 1840 to demonstrate his "apparatus actuated by electro-magnetic power". It included: a model locomotive carriage, large enough to carry two people, that ran on a railway; a turning lathe with tools for visitors to use; and a small printing machine. In the spring of 1842 he put on a similar exhibition in Edinburgh, this time including a sawmill. Davidson sought support from railway companies for further experiments and the construction of an electromagnetic locomotive; the Edinburgh exhibition successfully attracted the attention of the proprietors of the Edinburgh 585\& Glasgow Railway (E \& GR), whose line had been opened in February 1842. Davidson built a full-size locomotive incorporating his principle, apparently at the expense of the railway company. The locomotive weighed 7 tons: each of its two axles carried a cylinder upon which were fastened three iron bars, and four electromagnets were arranged in pairs on each side of the cylinders. The motors he used were reluctance motors, the power source being zinc-iron batteries. It was named Galvani and was demonstrated on the E \& GR that autumn, when it achieved a speed of 4 mph (6.4 km/h) while hauling a load of 6 tons over a distance of 1 1/2 miles (2.4 km); it was the first electric locomotive. Nevertheless, further support from the railway company was not forthcoming, although to some railway workers the locomotive seems to have appeared promising enough: they destroyed it in Luddite reaction. Davidson staged a further exhibition in London in 1843 without result and then, the cost of battery chemicals being high, ceased further experiments of this type. He survived long enough to see the electric railway become truly practicable in the 1880s.

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PJGR / GW

SUBJECT AREA: Civil engineering

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Lewis Gordon attended the High School in Edinburgh and Edinburgh University. He was unusual amongst British engineers of his generation in also spending some time at foreign educational establishments, including the School of Mines at Freiberg in Saxony and the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. He served under Marc Brunel in the final stages of the construction of the Thames Tunnel, from 1837 to 1840. After this, he set up a civil engineering partnership with Lawrence Hill in Glasgow in 1840 and was then appointed as the first holder of the Regius Chair of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at Glasgow University, 1841–55. He seems to have been frustrated by the lack of facilities at Glasgow, and handed over to his deputy, W.J.M. Rankine in 1855, in order to concentrate on his growing private practice which he had been building up during his professorship at the university. His practice was involved in designing iron bridges and introducing wire rope into Britain; he also became involved with submarine cables and telegraphy. With Charles Liddell, he was the engineer for several railways in England and Wales, including the Crumlin Viaduct on the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway.

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